Braised Duck RiceAnother good find at Mei Ling food centre.The braised duck rice is simply delicious. The duck meat is tender and juicy. The sauce, a right mixed of spices and flavoring, accentuates the taste of the braised duck but it does not overwhelm the meat. The chillie sauce is finely blended. The braised duck orgrans is also palatable.

It is not that expensive. A 5 persons serving of duck meat, a plate of assorted organs and 5 plate of white rice cost us S$19. That's only S$3.80 per pax ->Reviewed by JC

>> 28.4.10

Chicken RiceToday, we wanted to have chicken rice for lunch and as recommended by some collegues, we decided to try out the famous Sin Kee chicken rice in Mei Ling market and food centre. We have problem finding this food centre as it is quite out of the way and sandwiched in between a multi-storey carpark and the surrounding HDB flats.The newly renovated food centre is very spacious and cooling, a good ambience for having lunch in a hot afternoon. Being new, it is also relatively clean.In my humble opinion, for a chicken rice to be rated as 5 star, it must have very good rice, chicken and chillie sauce.The rice serve by this stall is very fragrant and tasty. The rice is neither soggy or oily. You can literally see every single grains of rice yet the grains are neither too hard or too soft, just nice.

The chicken meat is juicy, not oily and tender with slices of cucumber placed beneath the chicken meat.

Finally, the chillie sauce is a little bit sweet with a touch of vinegar and is definitely not hot. For those who prefer fiery hot chillie sauce, this will be disappointing but it is still up to standard compared to many other stalls. However, there's no soup, yes, you hear me right, no soup. Anyway, I'm not really keen about the soup.We also ordered a plate of beansprout. It is perfectly cooked and served with simple yet delicious sauce.

Bottomline is, it is highly recommended. All of us are completely satisfied with today's lunch, as we always said "happy meal", indeed, BTW, we spend a total of S$19 on a plate of chicken for 3, 6 bowl of rice and a plate of beansprout ->Reviewed by JC

Beef NoodleIn case you are unaware, Seah Im food centre is located opposite to Habourfront. Thaksin beef noodles, as the name implies, sells halal thai style beef noodles in soup. This stall in Seah Im is the original stall and there is one more stall in clementi.The soup is flavoured with herbs and spices which is different from the usual chinese style beef noodles and there is no MSG added as told which is a plus point.The stewed beef and tripe (stomach)are tender and not rubbery. If you are not into tripe, you can asked for the stewed beef pieces only. The beef noodles is garnished sparsely with kang kong, bean sprouts, thai basil and coriander.

The vinegar chillie padi sauce is a little bit too sour for my liking and the grounded chillie padi flakes are extremely fiery, it burns literally. Bottomline, it is delicious ->Reviewed by JC

Steamed Fish Head (Cze Char)Once upon a time, I could never imagine myself eating fish head and I also couldn't understand back then the passion some of the connoisseur have for fish. However, many years later, I then realised having tried it myself, fish head could be absolutely sumptuous if prepared right. Now, I especially adore steamed fish for its freshness and abundance collagen.

This unassuming stall to be reviewed today is a typical cze char stall just like many others in Singapore and is the corner stall facing the road. Their signature dish is purportedly, the steamed fish head. There are a variety of fish head used for this dish including red garoupa, carp etc. Our favorite is the big head grass carp 松鱼 which is a freshwater fish. Normally, freshwater fish is acquainted with mud-taste when cooked but the owner skilfully rid off the "muddy" taste.

I think, in steaming a fish head, the timing is real important as it will determine the meat quality; i.e. its tenderness and succulence. With this stall, the fish head is indeed succulent, fresh and tender. Not to forget, near the gills and around the eyes are filled with gelatin! Yummy, as collagen is good for your complexion, I guess. The steamed fish head is garnished with toufu, lard (optional), fried shallots and spring onions. The sauce is nothing more than just soya sauce, perhaps a dash of sesame oil and some seasonings.

One more thing worth mentioning is the price of a steamed fish head (approx S$7) is relatively cheaper than others. If you're into fish head and is around that area, its worth trying ->Reviewed by JC

Fish Soup with White RiceLocated in Upper Bukit Timah, it is assumably one of the best fish soup in the West. In my opinion, what makes a fish soup irresistable is the taste of the soup and the freshness of the fish.

At Quan Xiang as this stall is called, the soup sprinkle with fried shallots is sweet and light on the palate. For those who likes the soup light would love it. The fish slices are fresh and tender. Additionally, the chillie paste that comes with the set is fiery hot,literally and is definitely not for the weak hearted. To me the burning sensation of the chillie adds on to the fish freshness and lightness of the soup, a deadly combination indeed.

This stall sells 2 type of fish namely; batang and red garoupa. The red garoupa unquestionably will be more expensive...

Batang fish S$4 to S$6Red Garoupa S$6 to S$10White rice S$0.50

Again, the portion is quite small for the S$4 serving ->Reviewed by JC

>> 8.4.10

TeoChew Bakso (fishball noodles)The stall's name, TeoChew Bakso, is quite intriguing. I google for the word "Bakso" and it literally means meatballs in Bahasa Indonesia. However, this stall is definitely not selling any meatballs but instead fishball noodles.

I must say this is one hell of a fishball noodles as it tastes heavenly, literally. The fishballs and fishcakes are homemade to a fine perfection. You can taste the freshness of the ingredients. The sauce mixed with the noodles is just nice although the smell of the vinegar is relatively quite strong but it definitely don't taste sour. The fishballs and fishcakes are large compared to many similar stalls.

TeoChew PorridgeOne of our favorite haunt for Teow Chew porridge is the food centre located at Lorong 5 Toa Payoh. This unassuming stall sells cheap but palatable and appetizing dishes. For 8 dishes, 6 bowl of porridge and 6 bowl of rice, it costs only S$20. Well, I would consider that as a real bargain.

Though the dishes serve are simple and those that you will find in many similar stalls but it is tasty. We are pretty health conscious and so quite particular about MSG. The food served here are agreeably quite light in artificial seasoning yet savory.

One of the main highlights of the stall is the braised duck meat. Normally, duck meat is characterised by its rough texture but in this case, it is tender, nicely braised and the sauce is well mixed, thus adding to the overall completeness of this dish.

In the hot weather like Singapore, it is always good to have a bowl of porridge for lunch and if coupled with delicious dishes, it would be irresistable. That's why we recommend this stall...->Reviewed by JC